Want to Grow Your Business? Referrals are a great way to do so and by far one of the least expensive marketing strategies.   Small Businesses, especially home-based businesses thrive when their business grows through referrals. Read this article about How to get people to send referrals your way…

By Simon Posner

Have you ever heard the phrase ‘Your Network is Your Networth’?
Good business networking is all about developing and maintaining good relationships with other business professionals. After all, when you get to know people and prove to them that they can trust you, they’ll be happy to do business with you and recommend you to other people. So what does it take to be a highly skilled and effective networker?

~ Be a Good Listener: We were born with 2 ears and one mouth! Maybe it’s because listening is twice as important as speaking. People like to be listened to. This is key to effective communication. The more you listen, the more you know about your contacts and the more respected you become. When you listen, people trust you and want to share with you and the relationship becomes more meaningful.
~ Be Positive: When you’re positive, you attract people to you. Everyone likes to be associated with and cooperate with positive professionals. Be positive, and other people will send their contacts to you knowing that they’ll get the best service from you.
~ Be Trustworthy: Respect yourself and your contacts by being trustworthy. Show your fellow networkers that you can be trusted to handle referrals with integrity and professionalism.
~ Be Enthusiastic and Motivated: When was the last time you were inspired to do business with a bored sales person or business owner? Would you ever recommend them? If they’re not enthusiastic about their product or service, why should you be? To gain the respect of our network, we need to show enthusiasm. Our product or service will then sell themselves.
~ Respect Your Referrals: When someone gifts you with a referral, respect and appreciate the gesture and follow up successfully. This way you’ll encourage more referrals and develop a good reputation.
~ Be Sincere: The best way to show sincerity is to show you care and focus your attention on the other person. This will automatically be felt and appreciated by your companion. To develop successful networking skills, make sure you are sincere. And if your mind is somewhere else for a moment, don’t be afraid to admit it, apologise for it and come back to the conversation.
~ Network Constantly: Effective networkers always network. Networking comes naturally to them and they will network with anyone inside and outside networking meetings. Master the art and you will reap the rewards.
~ Say Thank You: Didn’t it feel great the last time someone expressed gratitude for something you did? Whether it’s family, friends, clients or business associates, everyone likes to be thanked from the heart. And you’ll find it rewarding too! When you thank people, they have a natural inclination to repeat their actions. When you thank someone for their custom or referrals, they’ll continue to help you grow your business.
~ Help Others: You can help others in endless ways. Maybe you can give them a hand when they are installing some new software or send them something interesting you thought may be helpful to their business. Effective networkers always look for ways to help other people and advance their interests.
~ Work At It: Effective networkers promote their referral partners’ businesses as well as their own, from carrying business cards to using software to manage their contacts. They meet their new contacts again and learn about their services in detail, making them a true network partner.
All these points have something in common. They all lead to long-term relationship building. People who take the time to build their network are the ones who will have new business referred to them over and over. The key is to build mutually beneficial business relationships. This will help you succeed as an effective networker.

For more articles by Simon Posner visit: Meet & Link  http://www.meetnlink.com
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